Steve H., Machinist

March 18th, 2009

Beauty, Eh?

I finished machining the laser mount for the Saiga 12. It came out perfectly. It could not have been much better had I paid a machine shop. I’ll show you the crappy cell photos of the jig, plus the after photos.

Here are three photos of the jig I put together.

03-18-09-saiga-laser-mount-jig-01

03-18-09-saiga-laser-mount-jig-02

03-18-09-saiga-laser-mount-jig-03

Here is the basic idea. The miter gauge makes it run parallel to the saw blade. I moved it to the other miter slot and measured the gap with calipers to make sure both ends of the mount were the same distance from the blade. The wooden strap on top screws into the scrap on the bottom. It doesn’t mar the mount, and it holds it firmly.

Here’s how it looks on the gun. I don’t have stuff to blacken the aluminum yet, so…I used a Sharpie.

03-18-09-saiga-laser-mount-post-cut-01

03-18-09-saiga-laser-mount-post-cut-02

I can’t believe how well this worked out. A true anal retentive would put a better finish on the mount. Maybe I’ll do that.

I lubed the blade with WD40 (it sprays real nice when the blade starts spinning), and I blew the lube off with Gumout.

I’m thrilled. I think it looks great.

Posted in Guns, Knives, Hunting, and Fishing, Tools | 10 Comments »

10 Responses to “Steve H., Machinist”

  1. Kyle Says:
    March 18th, 2009 at 4:14 PM

    It DOES look great. Way to go!

  2. rightisright Says:
    March 18th, 2009 at 6:39 PM

    Congrats on your first “WECSOG job”. For those that don’t know, Wiley E Coyote School Of Gunsmithing is a term fondly used by gunnies for finding an often simple, but effective solution to your problem.
    .
    Completely different than a “Bubba job”. You never want to Bubba your gun.

  3. Steve H. Says:
    March 18th, 2009 at 8:28 PM

    Thanks for the support. I still can’t believe it worked.
    .
    Bubba may be lurking up ahead. I am nervous about the Saiga conversion.
    .
    Guess I better buy Bondo.

  4. Ed Bonderenka Says:
    March 19th, 2009 at 5:32 AM

    Og used to say that sometimes you Bubba the gun for a better fit, i.e. bondo on the grips. I assume thats’ what Steve is referring to.
    But this was a slick application of the PowerMatic and Yankee, sorry, American ingenuity.

  5. Wormathan Says:
    March 19th, 2009 at 6:23 AM

    That is exactly the kind of thinking that made America #1.

  6. Wormathan Says:
    March 19th, 2009 at 6:28 AM

    I assume you already thought of this, but I have to ask, is the laser mounted high enough so your left hand does not block it? Cant tell from the pics.

  7. GrumpyUnk Says:
    March 19th, 2009 at 8:01 AM

    That looks good.

    “The Force is Strong with This One.” – Yoda would be proud of you.

  8. Steve H. Says:
    March 19th, 2009 at 10:13 AM

    “is the laser mounted high enough so your left hand does not block it?”
    .
    Actually, I didn’t think of this. But the people who made the mount did. It’s possible to obstruct the beam, but only if you work at it. And the on button is in a very good position, so I won’t need a remote switch.

  9. Wormathan Says:
    March 19th, 2009 at 1:20 PM

    Good to hear. I would have hated to hear that that clever bit of work was made useless. I was afraid you would have had to mount it forward.

  10. Anthony Says:
    March 19th, 2009 at 1:34 PM

    This link to the Onion has a pretty funny story about defective hollow point bullets.

    http://www.theonion.com/content/video/manufacturer_recalls_hollow_point?utm_source=a-section